HE IS known for his dry wit.

But comedian Bob Mortimer showed he had a softer side on a visit to a cat sanctuary yesterday.

The feline-fancying funny man dropped in on Cats Protection in Chelwood Gate, near Uckfield, to learn how staff turn the mistreated moggies’ lives around – and put some faces to a few names.

Bob, 58, who is the proud owner of two Oriental cats called Gudmundsson and Mavis, recently started selling original cat names on Twitter as a joke.

But when people began to put up money, he came up with the bright idea of turning them into prints and donating the takings to Cats Protection, a nationwide network of shelters dedicated to adopting homeless and abused cats.

So far, £3,623 has been raised for the charity’s 34 centres across the country – and several of the names Bob dreamt up for fun have been given to real-life pusses.

He said Candles and Kedgeree, housed at Chelwood Gate, owe their names to his idea of a romantic evening.

“My first cat walked into my life when I was 17,” he said.

“I’m not sure who he belonged to but I adopted him and called him Billy – all cats should be called Billy.”

The Middlesbrough-born comic, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, went on to study law at the University of Sussex, taking Billy with him to his digs on the East Slope.

They were inseparable for 14 years.

“I practised as a lawyer before I started naming cats,” he joked.

Since reinventing himself as a comedian, Bob has made his name as one half of the Vic and Bob comedy act with Vic Reeves.

But he was in sombre mood as adoption centre manager Danielle Draper showed him the isolation chamber for treating diseased cats.

Danielle, 37, said the centre – the national headquarters for the 90-year-old organisation – rehoused 128 cats in January, close to a record tally.

As the visit drew to a close, Candles and Kedgeree were snapped up by a member of the public.

“For every cat that goes, there’s another one coming in,” said Danielle.

She said the visit had been a great success.

“It’s been brilliant to have Bob here and a real honour to show him the facilities,” she said. “He really wanted to come here. We can’t thank him enough.”

Media officer Cat Jarvis, 35, said: “We’re just really grateful to Bob.”